In 2006, two women sailed half the planet to be together. Meg, a Canadian, and I -- Elena, a Russian -- had no choice but to risk it all, or be parted forever.

I had never seen the ocean. Meg had only day-sailed in protected waters, but took on this planet-crossing escape, without question. As an ordinary, well-to-do westerner, what she did was unthinkable; risked everything: social status, her savings, her life.

To be with Meg, I lost everyone I had ever known, my home, my profession and my country.

From meeting Meg online in 2005, until literally washing up on Canada's Pacific coast in 2007, I fought for life of my own, the right to be myself, and the right to love a person - not a gender, but a person. With my book Talking to the Moon (currently only in Russian), and this website I reach out to anyone who dares to blaze her own trail, craves adventure, hungers for life and love, and questions the tyranny of stereotypes, doctrine, and societal norms.

In April 2007 Meg and I reached the Pacific coast of Canada. We survived the ordeal, we have been together until this day and we keep sharing our story with the world.